ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1589634

This article is part of the Research TopicCellular Immunotherapy: Transforming Cancer TreatmentView all 13 articles

Adding dendritic cell-immunotherapy for post-transplant hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence

Provisionally accepted
Wei-Chen  LeeWei-Chen Lee1*Chih-Hsien  ChengChih-Hsien Cheng2Tsung-Han  WuTsung-Han Wu2Yu -Chao  WangYu -Chao Wang2Jin-Chiao  LeeJin-Chiao Lee2Hao-Chien  HungHao-Chien Hung2Chen-Fang  LeeChen-Fang Lee2Ting Jung  WuTing Jung Wu2Hong-Shiue  ChouHong-Shiue Chou2Kun-Ming  ChanKun-Ming Chan2
  • 1College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
  • 2Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver transplantation is frequently multiple and extrahepatic, and with a poor prognosis. The therapeutic effects of current medications for post-transplant HCC recurrence are limited. This study assessed whether outcomes could be improved by adding dendritic cell (DC)immunotherapy to the treatment regimen.Methods. Eleven patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and DCimmunotherapy for post-transplant HCC recurrence between 2020 and 2024 were included. DC were propagated from peripheral blood monocytes and pulsed with tumor lysate. Historical data of patients (n =23) with tyrosine kinase inhibitors for posttransplant HCC recurrence between 2009 and 2020 were collected as a reference.Results. Seven male and four female patients were included in this study. The median (interquartile) tumor recurrence time after transplantation was 35.0 (7.4-55.3) months.The median number of DC-immunotherapy were 5 ranged from 3 to 10, and the median number of cells admitted was 29.5x10 6 cells ranged from 16.0 to 137.2 x10 6 cells.Responses to DC-immunotherapy included nine stable diseases and two progressive diseases. No adverse effects related to DC treatment were observed. The 1-, 2-and 3year survival rates were 70.7%, 40.4%, and 40.4%, respectively, compared to 52.5%, 17.4%, and 8.7%, respectively, for patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors only (p = 0.050).DC immunotherapy is a safe treatment for transplant recipients with HCC recurrence. Adding DC-immunotherapy to the treatment regimen could prolong the survival of some patients.

Keywords: DC, dendritic cell, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Liver Transplantation, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Immune checkpoint inhibitor

Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Lee, Cheng, Wu, Wang, Lee, Hung, Lee, Wu, Chou and Chan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Wei-Chen Lee, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

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